Sidecar

This classic cocktail requires the perfect mix of brandy, orange curaçao, and lemon juice By St. John Frizell

T
he founding members of the Museum of the American Cocktail held a convocation in an old pharmacy in New Orleans' French Quarter, two weeks before the city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. At that time, when lighter topics seemed appropriate and worthy of serious attention, some of America's foremost mixologists  including Dale "King Cocktail" DeGroff, historian Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh, and Robert Hess, founder of DrinkBoy.com  met to discuss official business. Their conversation included a matter that spurred heated exchanges among the directors  that is, the exact proportions of ingredients in the Sidecar.

The disagreement is a particularly sour one; it's about lemon juice. The original recipe for the Sidecar (which allegedly was invented during World War I at or near the Hotel Ritz, Paris) called for equal parts brandy, orange curaçao, and lemon juice to be poured into a cocktail glass  in those days, a 3-ounce to 4-ounce container.

Cocktail Recipe

Cocktail glasses today are much larger  holding five or more ounces  as are the drinks that go in them. When the original "equal parts" recipe is used for a 4-ounce to 5-ounce drink, the finished product is downright acidic. As drink size increases, the sour element  the lemon juice  must be scaled back to keep the flavors in equilibrium. "All we're looking for is balance," says Haigh. "You don't want a drink to taste sweet, or sour  you want it to taste right."